The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-07-11
THE PROCESS OF 1NTUBATIoN.
A Little Tube Which Works Wonders
in Cases of piphtheria.

| III SbSSS Ol LllItJISIld.
New York, July 9.-Only few days
ago morning newspaper announced that
diphtheria was widely prevalent in New
| York. inquired of a physician, who makes
specially of throat diseases, as to this
statement.
Yes" he replied, cit is true. am over
| run with work, but thanks to q member of
our profession in this city, the chances of
overcoming the disease have been greatly
| increased
| gladly accepted his invitation to accom-
| pany him on visit to young patient who
was seriously i'll with diphtheria and watch
| the operation which he intended to perform.
| We drove rapidly over to West Twelfth
street and stopped in front of neat three
story brick house The door was opened
Immediately in response to the doctors
ring and we passed into the hall
! How is my little patient" asked the
doctor of the anxious looking mother who
| came from an inner room.
! ''Oh, doctor I'm afraid he's going to die"
she replied, while the tears rolled down her
cheeks. HE gasps terribly and can hardly
| breathe
The doctor looked grave and, without an
swering, walked into the room from which
she had just come. followed him. 1t was
a sad sight
Ou JuC DSN IdJ young 10y SdSHIllSS lOl
| breath. He was not over years of age.
| Had not his features been distorted by his
| terrible struggles to obtain relief from the
sitting feeling which oppressed him, he
would have been considered a handsome
child. As it was, his eyes were bulgiug
from their sockets his mouth was drawn
out of shape, and his entire frame was
raclzed by feverish commissions. His ster-
torous breathing fell upon the deadly silence
OF the room with startling effect and made
all the more painful the hopeless misery
written in the faces of his parents.
The doctor looked at him for q moment
and then turned to his father:
Eyes, | am just in the nick of time" he
said. San hour later and the only hope
would be a resort to the operation of
tracheotomy. AS it is, can save him with
out doing any cutting. This operation is
called intubation," continued the doctor, adj
dressing himself to me. ut is the invention
of New York physician and is of meal
culable benefit in diphtheria, malignant
Group and kindred throat diseases This in
strument," he added, taking from the case
two-handled instrument remotely resembling
pair of pincers, sis called the mouth gag"
He deity inserted the steel ends between
the teeth of the patient and forced open his
mouth l heid the handles while he was
busy at his case, and saw that il was inn
possible for the boy TO close his mouth try
as hard as he would. Next the doctor drew
out little steel tube, gilded over. This was
small at one end and large at the other and
swelled considerably toward the centre.
The large end was flattened out so that it
projected beyond the body of the tube all
around. 1t was two and a half inches in
length, and about one-fifth of an inch in di-
ameter. The doctor deity drew a silk
thread through a small hole near the large
end of the tube. Next he inserted a little
,Nfa inf t,,I, lat -
firmly and screwed the steel on to another
instrument with long handle. Putting
the tube into the boys open mouth, he
quickly inserted il into his larynx. Salts
fed that it was properly adjusted, ne touch
ed spring in the handle Of the instrument
and out it came, taking with it the piece of
steel which had been fitted into the tube.
Only the tube remained with tho thread
hanging out of the boys mouth.
The doctor cut the thread, removed the
mouth gag and the operation was finished.
Not drop of blood had been shed and the
patient had suffered hardlya twinge of pain
from it.
won't the tube slipP' asked the anxious
father
"Oh, no." was the reply. at cannot do
so. The bulge at the center and the pro-
lection at the upper end prevent it from
moving up or down. He can talk or eat
just as well with it in as though he had
nothing there
Even as the doctor spoke the dark, choked
look left the boys face, and his heavy
breathing began to quiet down. His eyes
lost their wild, staring appearance, and
more natural color came into his cheeks.
He was saved
"In five days." said the doctor, as be re-
placed his instruments in his case, "unless |
there is "a change for the worse | will re- |
move the tube
n. 4 H.
explained still further the advantages of this I
y-discovered operation.
The old method in case such as described |
above was to perform tracheotomy, that is,
cut into the trachea or windpipe and insert |
in the opening a silver tube, tho upper part |
of which projected from the windpipe The /
cut was made about an inch below the !